As data changes, so do the risks. When everything existed on pen and paper, the only real threat was a catastrophic event such as a fire. Digitized data is certainly convenient, however, there is a cost. Your data is now also threatened by other forces such as user error, mechanical failure, malicious software, and viruses. EMC reports that 71% of IT admins interviewed reported they were not confident in their business’s ability to recover after a major data loss.
The Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council’s 2014 Annual Report states that very close to 3 out of 4 companies were not prepared for a data loss event. Those same companies had also lost one or more of their mission-critical software applications, lost critical files, or experienced downtime from data loss.
So what’s the real cost of a data loss event? It’s certainly different for everyone, and there are a lot of questions to answer:
Downtime:
1. Can your business operate without its data/software/computers?
2. If so – How long could you operate without it?
3. How much time will go into transferring data back into the system when your network is back up?
Actual Data:
1. Do you keep project work, pictures, financials, calculations, information, schematics, blueprints, or anything similar on the network?
2. How long would it take to replace or re-create those if the data was not recoverable?
3. Is your CRM on the network? Is your customer or lead data replaceable?
4. Is your financial software on the network?
Liability:
1. Are you responsible for your customers’ data?
2. Do you keep customers’ personal or private information?
Once you start thinking about these things, you see the problem. Data loss is so much more expensive than just the actual cost of the lost file in a vacuum. A lot of businesses simply can’t afford a major data loss event:
- 30% of all businesses that have a large data loss event go out of business within a year.
- 70% only survive for five years. (Home Office Computing Magazine)
- 60% of companies who lose all their data close down within 6 months.
Are you confident you could survive a major data loss? If not – how are you protecting yourself against such an event? As a local business owner, I know that sometimes it is easy to understand that you need to do something, but you pencil it down and leave it at the bottom of a never-ending to-do list. That’s why I would like to take some of the burden off and answer some questions for you:
1. Is my backup working as intended?
2. Are my backups current?
3. How far back am I protected?
4. Are the files I want and need part of the backup?
5. Is it secure?
6. Is it compliant (HIPAA, SOX, PCI)?
I am offering answers to these questions completely free as a part of my new Backup Audit program. All you have to do is reach out and let me know that you’d like some peace of mind.
Paul Milnes
Data-Safe I.T. Services of Michiana
574-742-2696
paulm@data-safe-it.com
Data Safe IT is a proud member of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce.
